Ivan Meshkov’s Drawings Implement Medieval Imagery, Tattoo Culture

Ivan Meshkov, an artist based in Chelyabinsk, Russia, used pencil and ink to create moody, hyperdetailed works often adorned with skulls, squids, and other iconography often found in tattoo culture. His work can be seen on album cover from bands of varying genres, including acts like Black Urn, Ruhr, Potlatch, Humbaba, Human Sprawl, and others.

Some of Meshkov’s linework seems to be implement pointillism, with the artist playing with textures often in the same image. Though his use of color seems to be less frequent and disparate from his main output, the artist’s work that’s completely colored seems decidedly more graphical in nature. Otherwise, otherwise black-and-white images receive pops of color.

A peek inside the artist’s sketchbook offers some insight into the artist’s experiments. Meshkov seems to gravitate toward Medieval imagery and tattoo design.